Shaun White leaves Red Bull for …

Notice anything unusual about the above video of 24-year-old Shaun White winning Skateboard Vert at last month’s X Games 17 in L.A.? Aside from the awesome athleticism that erupts when White is facing defeat and the probably ironical ‘stache, this is the first time in almost four years – Olympic shows excepted – that White hasn’t been domed with the Red Bull logo.

Red Bull and White in 2009 concocted one of the most captivating marketing schemes ever when the company secretly constructed a private 22-foot halfpipe at Silverton Mountain[3] so their premiere athlete could train for the 2010 Winter Olympics. It worked, delivering Red Bull mad props and White his second consecutive Olympic gold medal in halfpipe, adding to his collection of 20 X Games medals (15 from Winter X, 10 of those gold and five Skate Vert medals from Summer X, including two golds.)

White has been very selective with his sponsorship deals, often demanding total creative control. He developed his own clothing line for Target[4] and has remained loyal to his earliest sponsors like Burton and Oakley. Now it looks like one of the most recognized athletes of this generation also is demanding big dollars.

The latest scuttle – heard from a Red Bull insider – is that White is talking with Coca Cola’s Vitamin Water[5] about a multi-million-dollar deal that could make the Red Bull contract look like lunch money.